Thursday, August 30, 2012

Good day all! I've been telling my Stamp Club members about this idea for a while. And it's not actually my idea - I saw a similar card somewhere online, but can't find it's rightful owner to give her/him credit. But the original used completely non-SU items. I've stuck with only SU items - except for the die to cut the eyes. (I tried the 2 1/2" circle punch but it was too big and the 1 3/4" circle punch was too small....break out the nestie dies)

The eyes were created using one of the tie-dye techniques we did at Stamp Club. You can see one of the cards we made here. We got to discussing the Cannery Dies at Stamp Club and how we need to think outside of the box with the dies to get more bang for your buck. This is just one example! NICE - huh!

Yes-sir-ee-bob - that there is the corn stamp and die to create the owl feathers. I'm pretty darn pleased with the results.

How have you thought outside of the box with your dies? I'd love to see what you've created. Go ahead and post a link to your design in my comments section for all to see!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

....that's who I am! I have some blog candy to give away!!! A pack of Christmas cards from this blog post.... The winner is:

JENNIFER -Jennifer said - Love the Christmas card! Thanks for your great ideas and sharing them with us. I enjoy reading your blog and love the blooming with kindness card you did.Jennifer - please email me your address and I'll get those cards in the mail to you!!!Next up:Stampin' Up! has extended the 31% off sale on some downloadable content and print products until September 14th! This give you a few extra weeks to finish up those projects and get them ordered! Just think - you could have your Christmas cards all done and ready to go before Halloween even gets here! You could print up some adorable photobooks to give as gifts to friends and relatives. What about a collection of your favorite recipes? I know that my friends and I are always swapping recipes - they will be thrilled to get a mini album (swatchbook) with our favorites!Have you seen today's new My Digital Studio Downloads? Check them out:

When I first looked at these downloads from today, I thought - hmmm. Black and White DSP - a bit boring. But then I remembered this:

Is that not the coolest ever??? Now - you must have the new MDS2 in order for this to work - but let me tell you it is by far worth the upgrade! What - you aren't using My Digital Studio yet? You can test drive it for 30 days FREE! Go have yourself some digi-fun!Don't walk - run on over to my website and get yourself the upgrade !

Sunday, August 26, 2012

This is my second post for today. If you are looking for my Paper Players Sketch #110 post scroll down or click HERE.

Some of you would like some sneak peeks at what we'll be creating at my upcoming 10 for 25 class . Here is a small peek at two of the cards we'll create. I can't show you all of them because I don't want to give away all of my secrets. But I may come back with a couple of more peeks if I get a chance.

This class is being held at two different times/locations. You will create 10 different cards for a variety of occasions. All supplies are included, you do need to bring your favorite adhesive and scissors. Fee is $25

Did you do a double take when you read that title? Well, you read it right - times two. You just as well grab your favorite beverage and have a seat! :) The first card I'm showing you is actually the second card I created. This was pretty fun, but as I was crafting it, I was constantly asking "....is this where you were Cream of Corn..." - Hope Floats. If I only had a stamp that said that.... I know. I know. I can create something in My Digital Studio, and I just might! This is corn country, ya know. So, anything corn is welcome around here. Although, I don't know if there are any real Queens of Corn....
Anywhoooo.......I've been wanting to do something with this canning jar, making it look as tho things are truly inside. Ahhh. Insert vellum. I simply stamped on vellum, die cut it, put a slit in the top so that one ear of corn was sticking out and put the others behind the vellum. I usually struggle with hiding my glue marks. Here tho, I was able to hide the glue with the Thank You label. But, if you look REALLY close, I used a dot of Tombow Mono on the bottom of the ear of corn that is inside the jar. I'm thrilled at how well it dried and doesn't show all that much.
You may also notice that I paper pieced my corn. I tried several times to color my stamp with markers and just wasn't getting a nice clean image. (ya - I'm picky, I know) So, I stamped one image in Lucky Limeade and one in Daffodil Delight - well, two each really. Then i cut the husk off the green one and layered it over the top of the yellow. It also adds a tiche of dimension.
Here's the full card:

Now....I liked this sketch so much, I created a couple of cards! This was actually the first one that I created:

I was trying to think fall wedding here. And I like the card. It just seems lacking....

I wonder what it would look like if I were to have reversed my paper selections, using the darker blue in the background....I thought it was missing something so I added the pearls to the main panel. And then I added more pearls....

They don't stand out so much....oh well.

We've got a foggy morning out there today - I can't see 100 ft out into our yard - much less the bottom of the lane (which is 1/4 mile away). I think I'll stay snuggled on my couch with Will, who is sorting football cards into his book, and drink another cup of coffee. Anyone have any good coffee recommendations? I'm in need of a new flavor or something. I usually just drink a plain coffee (drip coffee maker - not a fancy schmancy Keurig) and use flavored creamer. Once in a while I'll get creative and use a little Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus right in the grounds and that adds a nice flavor.
Well - go off and enjoy the rest of your day - and stamp something while you're at it! Make sure that you play along with The Paper Players over on the blog - here's the sketch:

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Howdy folks! Are you having a good weekend? We're having a cool and dreary day in Iowa (well on Saturday anyway) - and that brought some much needed rain today (Saturday! ). Probably not enough to make a big difference, and a little too late to help out most of our crops, but we do a little dance these days when it does rain. It's pretty chilly tho - the high I'm sure didn't get about 60, and we have an outdoor party to attend tonight. I'm wondering if I need to wear a turtleneck - and ya - it is only August. I don't usually break those out until November. Maybe October. Anyway.....I know you came here to see some paper piecing creations from The Paper Players. Well, did you check out that little number above? Isn't she just the sweetest? I went a little crazy on this gal. I pieced her dress, the pumpkin and her socks and hat. It was a little tedious - but my best customers know that I don't mind fussy cutting anything. And I know that my best customers appreciate me even more when I don't make THEM fussy cut!

Aren't you loving that chevron dsp? Super cute. In fact, the Halloween paper from SU this year is probably my all time fave. I like that it's not gothic or full of skulls and crossbones. I like that it's trendy yet classic. Great patterns that will stand the test of time. That's totally me! I like a good classic turtleneck, blazer, herringbone pattern, tweed.....you name it! And the plaid I used here for this little gal's dress - how adorable did that turn out? She'll be styling for years to come!

Are you ready to play along with The Paper Players? Go ahead and get your fussy cutting scissors out - put on your bifocals if you need to - but join in the fun - just by clicking on the graphic below!

Once you've submitted your card - go check out what the other fantastic designers have come up with!

Friday, August 17, 2012

I just had to have a little fun with this jar from Perfectly Preserved and the lil' spider from Googly Ghouls. If you lived at our house, you'd realize that we spend a lot of time catching bugs in jars. This isn't always for the faint hearted. This summer I even went on my own little bug catching spree. Well, not so much a spree....but I caught a fly type of thing in a jar just so I could show my hubby. There was a humongo fly on our grill. At first I thought it was some sort of bee. It was seriously huge. I'm sure it's body was about an inch long. And then you need to add the wings onto that body. The thing was coal black - wings and all. I was seriously in awe. Ya - I was a little bit scared to capture it.....but I held my ground. I thought it would revolt and sting me or something or bite??? He went ballistic when I put the lid on it.

So....anyway....this card totally reminds me of what we do at our house - Catch bugs!

Sometimes, depending on the bug, we let them go....especially the butterfly types - of course! A spider however, would probably be left to decease in said jar! (I know, poor things....but we've got a gazillion spiders on the farm - I think their existence will survive) So, I thought is would be cute to let that spider out of the jar on the inside of my card. You know I don't typically decorate the insides, so you are in for a treat today!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

is it me you're looking for? C'mon, sing it in your best Lionel Ritchie voice would ya???

This is a card we recently made at in my Stamp Clubs. Super simple - but really fun. We worked on tie-dyed cards. All you need are some sponges, ink pads and an Aqua-Painter (or paint brush). The card that we did in the Denison Club is the one shown. I had forgotten to take my Simply Scored plate along and we needed a way to hide the sticky strip that attaches the vellum overlay. (Anyone have a VERY good adhesive to use for vellum that doesn't show thru?) If you place the sticky strip on the back of the score lines it doesn't' show thru. But for this card - I put the sticky strip on the back of the vellum, attached it to my card front and then put another strip of sticky strip on the front and used glitter over that. Worked Great!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

So, if you look in your current issue of Paper Crafts magazine, you'll notice an article all about canning jars. I just had to CASE a card that was highlighted in that article. I still changed it up a bit, but the concept is the same. I loved the way the original artist made it look like fireflies in the sky. How many of us have captured fireflies in a jar, and felt awe when they light up their little lightning bug lights? I still get excited when the kids and I catch fireflies.

Like I said, this card I pretty will CASEd but it's quite close:
I added a strip of vellum for my sentiment.
I added a button to the jar top with the twine.

All in all - this is seriously a 3 minute card.

Don't forget - the 15th is the last day to sign up for this month's Stamp Set of the Month Club. I've had several ask if they could just do this club on a month by month basis. Sure you can. You just won't get a Hostess set on your sixth month. But, you most certainly can do this on a month by month basis.

Monday, August 13, 2012

It wasn't long ago at a Stamp Club session that we were talking about using the Lovely as a Tree set and "flocking" it to make it wintry. We got a good laugh when one of the girls said, "Ya, sometime you've gotta just flock it!" Lots of puns there! It's one of the things that I love about my Stamp Clubs. I have SO much fun with these gals. Most of us didn't really know each other when we started, but we've definitely become friends. It's those nights of the week that I really look forward to - spending time with the gals.

Recently, at my Christmas in July event I decided to "Just Flock It" so these gals could see in person what this looked like in person. It was the most favorited card of the class.

To me, it's classy, it's pretty easy, and it'll mail without extra postage! BONUS! What do you think? Would you like to get a set of 8 of these in the mail???

It's probably time I do a little BLOG CANDY prize - huh???
I haven't done that in a while - so let's go for it!!! This time you are going to get a few chances to win....here's how:

Comment on this post.

Refer a friend to my blog and have that friend mention YOUR name in the comments section (ie: Sally Stamper sent me to your blog)

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Good Morning friends! I'm going to tell you right off the bat - this color challenge was a real challenge! Kraft/Crumb Cake - that's not the problem. If you've been around this blog long, you know that I use a lot of Kraft cardstock. It's the Cherry Cobbler/Not Quite Navy combo that I really struggled with. I didn't want it to look too Patriotic. I didn't want a manly card. (although I could use some manly cards!) I perused my stamp sets, gazed thru my book of sketches. Finally, I settled on this clean and simple sketch (an oldy from Clean and Simple Stamping). It quite clean, quite simple. I don't know that I really am in love with it. I've seen better work come out of my craft room. However, the use of the Natural Elements DSP - I DO like that.

I'm still in search of my creative mojo - so if you've seen it, could you please give it back. I've been scouring Pinterest for some inspiration - even at 3am when I can't sleep. I think that lack of sleep is part of my mojo prob. I don't like to get up in the middle of the night, because then I just fall into that routine. I'm hoping when school starts back up here I'll be back into a good routine. It's frustrating for me to feel lack-luster and uncreative. VERY frustrating. I'm typically the type of person that doesn't sit and watch tv or just hang out - I've got to be doing something. Cooking, crafting, gardening....I'll put the laundry and cleaning off. But those other things I really like to do.....so to not feel really motivated to do those fun things is odd. I'll get there tho. Just a little funk I'm going thru. I tried a new coffee this morning and it's super yummy....maybe that will be the key. (FYI - the coffee is Cameron's Cinnamon Sugar Cookie. mmm. mmm. good!)

Now - go head out to see what the other crafty Paper Players came up with. There are some great creations out there!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Super simple. Super easy. Super quick. Super elegant. Need I go on? This one was all that and a bag of tricks! Nothing much to say about it. Which is good. Because these days I'm a bit unmotivated, I feel like I'm spinning in a thousand direction and don't know which way to go. It's one of those deals where I have so much to do, I just can't figure out where to start. I'll get there. Just need to have a little prayer session so that I'm guided in the right direction! God is Good! So. With that being said. I'm outta here!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Howdy folks! I inadvertently forgot to publish this post at the first of the month - OOPS! I've posted new details about my Stamp Set of the Month Club and would like to highlight one of the cards that you'll receive this month with your subscription.

Isn't this absolutely beautiful? It's amazing what you can do with a little ink and some stamps! When you join my Stamp Set of the Month Club not only will you get this finished card, but you'll receive a kit and directions to duplicate it yourself, using my card as an example to work off of. What could be more easy?

Here's a sampling of all of the cards you'll receive, plus the materials to make your own!